We will be at the Lincolnshire Makers Market at The Sessions House, Sheep Market, Spalding , 10am to 4pm on Saturday 1 July.
We will have books with us by my Lincolnshire based writers, Amanda Pearson and Peter Sargent.
Category: blog
The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon – Publication Day
Happy publication day to The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon and author Charles Reader.
The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon is a tale of fear, obsession, passion, greed, folly and death. It plays itself out against a vast backdrop of marsh and sky – empty but for distant, shadowy forms. This psychological thriller is primarily set in Victorian Great Yarmouth and the Broads. The book, price £12, is on sale at Allthingsnorfolk and Amazon
The novel was shortlisted out of an entry of 13,500 in WH Smith’s Raw Talent competition in 2002.
Charles Reader explains: “In 1961, my family came to live near Halvergate Marshes. I was just two years old and so, as I grew up, this landscape was home. In later life I often returned to stay with my parents – yet each time I did so, I realised that more of the old Norfolk speech and ways I’d grown up with had disappeared and were in danger of being forgotten. So, I began writing about this area, using my childhood memories and conversations with our oldest neighbours. This eventually resulted in my novel, The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon.”
Norfolk Book Sales Donation to Norfolk & Waveney Mind
Steven Foyster presented a cheque for £250 on Wednesday, November 30 to Kate Frost of Norfolk & Waveney Mind, who is Manager of the REST Hub at Churchman House, Norwich.
The cheque was for proceeds from the Sale of Steven’s memoir, Cry to be Heard! My Road to Recovery, published by Paul Dickson Books. £1 from the sale of every copy of Cry to be Heard! is being donated to the charity.
Kate Frost said: ” I would like to thank Steven and Paul for this very welcome donation. It will be used to buy a new seat for Churchman House Garden.”
Christmas Markets 2023
We will be attending three special markets in the run up to Christmas. Do come along and say hello!
Norfolk Artisan Fair at Christmas, Fakenham Racecourse, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November, 9.30am to 4pm
The Festive Fair at The Forum, Norwich, Friday 25, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 November, 10am to 5pm (4pm on Sunday)
Wymondham Wynterfest, Sunday 4 December 12noon to 5pm. We’ll be in the indoor market.
Flat and Boring There Isn’t It? A celebration of life in the Lincolnshire Fens – New April 2023
Flat and Boring There Isn’t It? A celebration of life in the Lincolnshire Fens by Amanda Pearson will be published by Paul Dickson Books on Monday, April 17, 2023.
Born of a great passion and enthusiasm for the area that Amanda Pearson lives in, and the desire to rid the Fenlands of the negative misconceptions, held by too many, that the area is ‘flat and boring’, this book is a collection of light-hearted prose, amusing anecdotes, illustrative poetry and a selection of Amanda’s beautiful photographs. Together they bring to life the surroundings, the wildlife, and what it’s like to live out in the Lincolnshire Fens. The aim is to introduce people to a part of the country they may well have otherwise overlooked and to encourage those more local to maybe view the area in a new light.
Meet us at The Wayland Show
We will be at The Wayland Show, Watton, Norfolk on Sunday 4 September, 10am to 5pm. Come and say hello in The Shopping Village. We will be there with the full range of our books.
Joseph Crompton: A Journey of Faith – new booklet about Victorian Norwich churchman
Church historian, Nicholas Groves has uncovered the remarkable ecclesiastical career of Victorian Norwich churchman, Joseph Crompton (1813-1878) in his new booklet, Joseph Crompton: A Journey of Faith. Published by Paul Dickson Books, price £5, one pound from the sale of each booklet will go to The Octagon Chapel.
Crompton’s journey of faith began as a Unitarian minister at The Octagon Chapel, before he branched out and established an independent congregation called the Free Christians, which met at Blackfriars Hall, the former chancel of the Dominican Friary. He then joined the Church of England and ended his career as Rector of St Lawrence, in the wake of Edwin Hillyard’s Ritualist era, which had involved the notorious Father Ignatius and his ‘monks’.
Nicholas Groves explains his interest in Joseph Crompton: “I first encoutered Joseph Crompton when researching for my doctoral thesis, which was on the Ritualist churches of Norwich. The church of St Lawrence was an early (indeed, the second) convert to the Ritualist cause in Norwich, and Crompton became its Rector after a very turbulent period, which involved the notorious ‘Father Ignatius’ (Joseph Leycester Lyne).”
“Looking into his background, I found that he had started out as minister of the Octagon Unitarian Chapel and thought at the time that that was a remarkable change of views. It was not until forced idleness over the summer of 2020 gave me the opportunity that I was able to look further into his life. What I was not to know in 2008 was that I should mirror his journey in reverse, going from St George Tombland, another of the churches that had a Ritualist tradition, to The Octagon. In my case, organ-playing was the catalyst.”
“What the members of The Octagon thought of the goings-on at St Lawrence we can but guess; likewise we can only guess (though probabaly with some degree of accuracy) what St Lawrence’s thought of The Octagon. It takes a degree of fortitude for someone to change thier religious views so much, but to do so in the same city, as a clergyman, even more so. That Joseph Crompton came out of this with goodwill on all sides says much about him.”
Nicholas Groves has been involved with various Norwich churches since 1981. He has taught at both school and university level and is now a freelance writer and lecturer. He is a trustee of the Norwich Historic Churches Trust and of The Octagon Unitarian Chapel, where he also plays the organ.
Joseph Crompton: A Journey of Faith is on sale at Allthingsnorfolk.com, Amazon, Revelation Bookshop Norwich and City Bookshop Norwich.
Norfolk Authors, Books and Cake
Sunday 3 April, 3pm at the Assembly Rooms, Swaffham PE37 7QH.
Hear from Norfolk authors, Peter Sargent, Neil Haverson and Janet Collingsworth and publisher Paul Dickson and enjoy a full afternoon tea, in aid of Norfolk and Waveney Mind.
Peter Sargent is a former EDP journalist and has written three East Anglian history books, along with My Word!, an explorationm of the origins of our favourite words.
Neil Haverson worked for many years for ECN and Archant and was latterly Editor of Let’s Talk magazine. He has written a memoir, Ink in my Blood about his 50 years in the Norfolk media.
Janet Collingsworth’s book, Tell me about the farm Grandad is a memoir of growing up in 1960s Norfolk.
Paul Dickson is an independent publisher based in Norwich.
Tickets, £20 from Eventbrite or Ceres Bookshop, Swaffham, t. 01760 722504.
Tell me about the farm Grandad at Costessey Primary School
Janet Collingsworth visited Costessey Primary School on Monday, December 6 to tell stories from her new book Tell me about the farm Grandad, A 1960s Norfolk childhood. Janet went to both Costessey Infant and Junior Schools in the 1960s and was back on home territory. Both schools, which were amalgamated into Costessey Primary School, feature in the book. Janet also presented copies of her book for the school library.
Tell me about the farm Grandad – new 1960s childhood memoir
Tell me about the farm Grandad, A 1960s Norfolk childhood is a new memoir by Aylsham resident, Janet Collingsworth. The book, price £11, will be published by Norwich-based Paul Dickson Books on Tuesday 5 October.
Born in the late 1950s, Janet grew up in Norwich with her Mum and Dad and younger sister Wendy. In her delightful memoir enjoy the happy times spent with Grandparents in Corpusty exploring the village, learning about the natural world, popping into village shops and post office, meeting village characters and a whole array of Great Aunts and Uncles, who were always good for half-a-crown or a bag of sweets.
There are summer holiday adventures the length and breadth of Great Britain, days out to Yarmouth, picnics in Chapelfield Gardens, rounded off with chocolate misshapes from Caley Macintosh, plus a memorable school trip to Belgium and the mysteries of the 11 Plus.
Explore a gentler era, with traditional family gatherings for birthdays, Bonfire Night and Christmas, when Harold Wilson’s ‘white heat of technology’ was yet to arrive in Norfolk.
Tell me about the farm Grandad will be on sale at www.allthingsnorfolk.com, Jarrold Norwich, Jarrold Cromer, Not Just Books Thetford, Waterstones Norwich and Amazon.